Kolkata crowd management has been tightened after a pandal stampede killed 19 people, with the Bengal government assigning nine experienced IPS officers to manage the Durga Puja rush and Kolkata Police issuing an 11-point advisory for major festival venues.
The deployment was decided on Sunday, a day after the stampede at Chorbagan, amid concerns over police arrangements, crowd control and allegations of negligence against puja organisers. A senior official said the officers had previously handled large Durga Puja crowds in Kolkata and had been brought back to help prevent a repeat of the incident.
The officers assigned to crowd-management duties are Sumanjit Ray, inspector-general of police (Border); Mehmud Akhtar, inspector-general of police (Intelligence Branch); Miraj Khalid, inspector-general of police (Traffic); Rupesh Kumar, deputy inspector-general of the Special Task Force; Shubhankar Bhattacharya, deputy inspector-general of Traffic; Tarun Haldar, deputy inspector-general of the Criminal Investigation Department; Soumya Ray, superintendent of police (Eastern Border); Priyabrata Ray, superintendent of police (Traffic); and Deepak Sarkar, superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The Kolkata Police advisory requires entry points to pandals to be closed during rain and visitors inside to be brought out safely. No additional visitors will be allowed into pandals in such conditions, an officer said. Police have also been directed to ensure adequate lighting at festival venues and to regulate visitor movement according to the crowd situation.
Personnel assigned to the venues have been instructed not to leave their posts even during rain. Vehicles carrying VIPs will not be allowed to travel up to the pandals and must instead be parked at a designated distance, according to the advisory. Police will also monitor announcements made by puja organisers and ensure that visitor routes are not changed abruptly.
The instructions place responsibility on police teams and organisers to maintain controlled movement at the points where large crowds enter, circulate and leave. Each police officer and constable must coordinate with five or six volunteers from the relevant puja committee. The advisory also requires ropes, guardrails and small loudspeakers to be kept ready for crowd management and emergency response.
The measures come as Kolkata’s major Durga Puja venues continue to attract large visitor numbers during the festival period. The latest instructions focus on regulating access, maintaining fixed visitor routes, improving visibility and preparing basic crowd-control equipment. The nine officers will oversee crowd-management duties during the remaining festive rush, the official said.
